Chase stays steps ahead of CFPB

Chase has adopted the new disclosure form developed by the Pew Health Group in order to make terms and conditions related to checking accounts more comprehensible for customers.

Chase is the first large bank to agree to use the form, although the North Carolina State Employee’s Credit Union and the Pentagon Federal Credit Union will also begin distributing them as well, MainStreet.com reports.

In October, Chase became the first bank to end its debit card fees, which led other major banks, like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, to follow suit and end theirs as well. In November, Chase also nixed two additional account fee tests programs.

Philip Van Doorn, a senior bank analyst with TheStreet, said that Chase’s new leadership role in customer services is simply a step ahead of rules that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will eventually make it follow anyway.

Pew’s form is similar to the simplified credit card agreement draft released by the CFPB last week.

Big banks have felt an uproar of customer backlash this past year, mostly in response to controversial the proposed debit card fees. The fees resulted in a national movement called “Bank Transfer Day" that prompted nearly 500,000 consumers to switch to credit unions between Sept. 29 and Nov. 25, MainStreet.com reports.